Ornate tapestry, enchanting music and sweet treats brought hundreds to Olympic Plaza on Saturday for what might be the first Iranian cultural festival in Western Canada.

The Tabestoon Festival competed with the weekend’s Folk Festival but managed to pack the downtown park with its artists, fragrant snacks and children’s activities.

“We really had great turnout and everyone seems to be having a great time,” said Negin Bagherynejad, the festival’s art director. She said this is the first Iranian festival for the city, and believes it’s also the first for Western Canada.

“We really wanted to show people more than what they see in the media. Iran is not just nuclear weapons; it has so much culturally.”

Julie England came to watch her daughter Bryn Mamms, a modern dancer who was asked to perform alongside a Persian violin performance.

“I was really impressed by everything here,” said Julie England, who also took in a carpet-making demonstration and a poetry display. “They organized everything in just a few months, and it all came together smoothly.”

The festival organizers, relying on donations, flew in a rock band and modern-fusion artist from the U.K., while Calgarians of Persian descent made dresses from traditional fabrics and rehearsed lively dances. A German photographer’s collection of pictures from across the country was displayed along the plaza’s blue construction fence.

For Lebanese-born Siham Hajj, the festival’s “beautiful songs” were the highlight. “It’s a great culture and you only see it sometimes here,” she said.

Bagherynejad said the festival used everything from calligraphy demonstrations to a chic catwalk show to show both traditional and contemporary Persian culture.

That resonated with Calgary mother Mahnaz Karimi, who looked on as her daughter had her face painted.

“I saw this on Facebook, and I’m really impressed by it,” she said. “I was born in Iran but my children were born here, and it’s important for them to know these things but especially to see them with their own eyes.”

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